'Shipmate Romanov' joins Naval Association

CONTROVERSIAL Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov is preparing to take on another club.

But Scottish football need not be too worried - the Lithuanian millionaire has accepted an invitation to join the West Lothian Royal Naval Association.

And the 58-year-old, who took over the Tynecastle outfit in 2004, is planning to attend meetings of the association whenever possible.

The former Russian submariner was asked to join the association after they put on a reception for the fellow submariners Mr Romanov had invited to Scotland to watch Hearts play Gretna in the Scottish Cup Final.

The Russians, who had served on the infamous K-19 submarine, met the Scottish Navy veterans at the event in Bathgate's British legion Club.

Mr Romanov was unable to attend personally, but he was so impressed with the treatment of his fellow submariners that he agreed to become a member of the association.

In a letter to the West Lothian RNA, Mr Romanov thanked them for their hospitality and graciously accepted their invitation to join.

He said: "I would like to thank you personally for inviting the K-19 submarine crew to your local branch at Bathgate.

"My colleagues of duty were delighted to meet their brothers in arms after such a long time.

"It is an acknowledgment of and a salute to you as real sailors, whom I have also always praised.

"I am very thankful to receive the Honorary membership of your branch.

"I gladly accept this invitation and will be looking forward to participating in the meetings of the branch when it will be possible."

The club, made up of local Navy veterans, meet every month in the British Legion Club to discuss association business such as fundraising and forthcoming events.

Club secretary John Sweeney said: "We were actually quite surprised that he accepted the offer, but he will certainly be welcome at any of our meetings.

"He is an honorary member so he will not be asked to take on any official duties. His assistant came to the reception to act as a translator for the submariners, and they were all very friendly.

"It was a great event and we decided after that to invite Mr Romanov to join, if he wanted to.

"There is a lot of friendship between ourselves and the Russians now, and this is just another example of that."

Allan Snowden, another member of the RNA, added: "We are really pleased that Mr Romanov has agreed to join us.

"The visit by the Russian sailors was a complete success and everyone had an excellent night.

"We look forward to Shipmate Romanov attending some of our meetings in the future."

Mr Romanov has been a controversial figure since he took over Hearts, and he has been heavily criticised for sacking managers George Burley and Graham Rix last season, as well as dealing with allegations that he has interfered with team selection on occasions.

But despite the perceived problems off the pitch, the club's second place finish and collection of the Scottish Cup has kept fans happy, and they are now looking forward to Hearts' first outing in the Champions League.

Taken from the Scotsman